Wednesday, September 25 review of "My Last Duchess" review
Coming up: This Was Our Land vocabulary quiz on Tuesday, October 1 (class handout / copy below)
On Thursday, I am not here. You will be working on two grammar exercises. You will need your chrome book. Please follow the directions and share with me by the end of class to get credit for your work: 2006630.
On Friday, you will be selecting a thematic topic based upon the poem and completing a graphic organizer in preparation for a short, analytical, text-based writing piece. If you are absent, make sure to check the blog.
Please remember that if you are absent, you are responsible for the work; that includes anything written in the notebook. I will put the blog date in your notebook, so that you can complete the assignment.
In class: review of the graphic organizer for My Last Duchess. If you have yet to turn in the assignment, do so now, as once we review the material no work will be accepted.
Name__________________________________ My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
Duchess (n.) –
the wife or widow of a duke (the male ruler of a duchy; the sovereign of a
small
state)
Frà (n.) – a
title given to an Italian monk or friar (a Catholic man who has withdrawn from
the
world for religious
reasons)
THAT’S my last Duchess painted on the
wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I
call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf’s
hands
Worked busily a day, and there she
stands.
Will’t please you sit and look at her? I
said
5
“Frà Pandolf” by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured
countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest
glance,
But to myself they turned (since none puts
by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)
10
And seemed as they would ask me, if they
durst,
How such a glance came there; so, not the
first
Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, ’twas
not
Her husband’s presence only, called that
spot
Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek:
perhaps
15
Frà Pandolf chanced to say, “Her mantle
laps
Over my lady’s wrist too much,” or
“Paint
Must never hope to reproduce the
faint
Half-flush that dies along her throat:” such
stuff
Was courtesy, she thought, and cause
enough 20
For calling up that spot of joy. She
had
A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made
glad.
Too easily impressed: she liked
whate’er
She looked on, and her looks went
everywhere.
Sir, ’twas all one! My favor at her
breast,
25
The dropping of the daylight in the
West,
The bough of cherries some officious
fool
Broke in the orchard for her, the white
mule
She rode with round the terrace—all and
each
Would draw from her alike the approving
speech, 30
Or blush, at least. She thanked men,—good!
but thanked
Somehow—I know not how—as if she
ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old
name
With anybody’s gift. Who’d stoop to
blame
This sort of trifling? Even had you
skill 35
In speech—(which I have not)—to make your
will
Quite clear to such an one, and say, “Just
this
Or that in you disgusts me; here you
miss,
Or there exceed the mark”—and if she
let
Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly
set 40
Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made
excuse,
—E’en then would be some stooping; and I
choose
Never to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no
doubt,
Whene’er I passed her; but who passed
without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave
commands;
45
Then all smiles stopped together. There she
stands
As if alive. Will’t please you rise? We’ll
meet
The company below, then. I
repeat,
The Count your master’s known munificence
Is ample warrant that no just pretense
50
Of mine for dowry will be
disallowed;
Though his fair daughter’s self, as I
avowed
At starting, is my object. Nay, we’ll
go
Together down, sir. Notice Neptune,
though,
Taming a sea-horse, thought a
rarity,
55
Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for
me!
|
1. List the specific words that are used to describe the Duchess
and what this suggests about the relationship with the narrator.
2. What does the Duke mean by “that piece” (line 3)
3. What words indicate Frà Pandolf’s career?
4. To whom is the Duke speaking?
5. Reread the first 8 lines. Who else is speaking?
6. To what is the Duke referring when he says ‘that pictured
countenance” in line 7?
7. Explain what the stranger “read[s]” in lines 6–7, “for never
read / Strangers like you that pictured
countenance.” What might read mean here?
8. What are some words that the Duke uses to describe the
“glance” in line 8?
9. Reread the poem independently
10. This is a dramatic monologue. Drama means story; hence
contains literary elements.
a. Who are the characters in the poem?
b. Write a summary of the plot?
11. Paraphrase the lines “Strangers like you always ask me, if
they dare, how the Duchess came to look that way in the portrait.”
12. Give two reasons that the the Duke might mention Frà Pandolf
twice in the first six lines of the poem?
13. In line 11, what do the words “if they durst” suggest about
the Duke’s view of himself?
14. What does the Duke imply when he uses the word “only” in line
14?
15. What does the phrase “that spot of joy” suggest about the
Duchess? What does the Duke imply in
lines 15–19 might have caused such an
expression?
16. What does the Duke imply when he remarks that, “such stuff /
Was courtesy she thought, and cause
enough / For calling up that spot of joy”
(lines 19–21)?
17. Reread lines 21–22: “She had a heart—how shall I say?—too soon
made glad / Too easily impressed…”
What is the effect of the repetition in
these lines? Respond in a complete sentence.
18. What does the Duke mean by “the dropping of daylight in the
West” (line 26)?
19. What does the Duke mean when he claims the Duchess’s “looks
went everywhere”?
19.
20. What does the Duke mean by the “gift of a nine-hundred years
old name” (line 32)? And
20. From the
Duke’s perspective, how does the Duchess value this gift?
21. What might the Duke mean when he states, “I gave commands; /
Then all smiles stopped together” in lines 45–46?
21.
22. How does the repetition of the phrase “as if alive” in lines 2
and 47 impact the poem?
23. The word object:
a. What does the word object mean in line 53?
b. What other meaning does the word object have?
c. What is the impact of Browning’s choice to use the word object
in this line?
c.
24. What does the Duke ask the listener to “notice” as they go
downstairs?
.
|
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Feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.
One becomes arrogant; that is
- having or revealing an exaggerated sense
- of one's own importance or abilities.
- haughty
- conceited
- hubristic
- self-important
What is hubris? Hubris is the excessive pride that leads to one's downfall. In the Bible, that is what Satan did to end up in Hell.
What exactly was Satan's crime?
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Vocabulary This Land Was Our Land quiz on Tuesday, October 1
1. monotonous (adjective)- dull, tedious, and repetitious; lacking in variety and interest.
2. subsidiary (noun)- less important than but related or supplementary to something.
"many environmentalists argue that the cause of animal rights is subsidiary to that of protecting the environment"
3. coercive (adjective) relating to using force or threats
4. antebellum (adjective) occurring or existing before a particular war, especially the American Civil War.
5. to intimidate (verb)- to frighten or overawe someone to get them to do something
6. crucible (noun)- a situation of severe trial, or in which different elements interact, leading to the creation of something new.
"their relationship was forged in the crucible of war"
7. extortion (noun)- the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.
taking advantage of
8. exploitation (noun)- taking advantage of someone to benefit from their work
9. to perplex (verb)-to cause someone to feel completely confused
10. acquisition (noun)- the learning or developing of a skill, habit, or quality OR acquiring something in a museum.
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